ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Mines
Key Minerals Production Sufficient to Meet Domestic Users Demand
Production of key minerals under the ambit of Mineral Conservation and Development Rules  has increased during the last nine years reflecting augmented production capacity of these minerals. Production of most of these minerals is sufficient to meet the requirements of the domestic user industries such as steel, aluminum and cement. The year-wise quantity of production of these minerals and their compound annual growth rates  over the period 2014-15 to 2022-23 are given at Annexure.
The details of works being carried out for expediting the activities of National Mineral Exploration Trust  are as under:
Apart from 25 Government and public sector Notified Exploration Agencies, 14 Private Exploration Agencieshave been notified.11 projects have already been sanctioned to Notified Private Exploration Agencies.
First installment of fund is being released as advance to Exploration Agencies along with sanction order of the projects sanctioned.
Financial assistance is being given to the State Directorates of Geology and Mining to strengthen their infrastructure for carrying out exploration activities.
The meeting of Technical Cum Cost Committee is being held every month and Executive Committee meeting is being held every quarter or earlier as may be required to expedite sanction of projects.
Meetings are held periodically to monitor and review the progress of works and resolve issues, if any.
Annexure
Annexure referred to in reply to part  of LS USQ No. †2239 answered on 02.08.2023regarding ‘NMET’
Production of key MCDR minerals during 2014-15 to 2022-23
|
|
Mineral name
|
|
Quantity of production 
|
|
CAGR

|
|
2014-15
|
|
2015-16
|
|
2016-17
|
|
2017-18
|
|
2018-19
|
|
2019-20
|
|
2020-21
|
|
2021-22
|
|
2022-23 
|
|
Iron ore
|
|
129.32
|
|
158.11
|
|
194.58
|
|
201.42
|
|
206.49
|
|
244.08
|
|
205.04
|
|
253.97
|
|
257.86
|
|
9.0
|
|
Limestone
|
|
293.27
|
|
307.00
|
|
314.67
|
|
340.42
|
|
379.97
|
|
359.46
|
|
349.12
|
|
387.19
|
|
406.16
|
|
4.2
|
|
Chromite
|
|
2.16
|
|
2.92
|
|
3.73
|
|
3.48
|
|
3.97
|
|
3.93
|
|
2.83
|
|
3.79
|
|
3.56
|
|
6.4
|
|
Gold ore
|
|
0.45
|
|
0.56
|
|
0.58
|
|
0.55
|
|
0.57
|
|
0.60
|
|
0.44
|
|
0.47
|
|
0.63
|
|
4.4
|
|
Lead & Zinc ore
|
|
9.36
|
|
10.45
|
|
11.88
|
|
12.61
|
|
13.75
|
|
14.48
|
|
15.46
|
|
16.34
|
|
16.74
|
|
7.5
|
|
Bauxite
|
|
22.49
|
|
28.12
|
|
24.75
|
|
22.79
|
|
23.69
|
|
21.83
|
|
20.38
|
|
22.29
|
|
23.84
|
|
0.7
|
|
Lead concentrate
|
|
0.20
|
|
0.26
|
|
0.27
|
|
0.31
|
|
0.36
|
|
0.35
|
|
0.38
|
|
0.37
|
|
0.38
|
|
8.4
|
|
Manganese ore
|
|
2.37
|
|
2.17
|
|
2.40
|
|
2.60
|
|
2.83
|
|
2.91
|
|
2.70
|
|
2.65
|
|
2.83
|
|
2.2
|
|
Zinc concentrate
|
|
1.49
|
|
1.47
|
|
1.48
|
|
1.54
|
|
1.46
|
|
1.45
|
|
1.51
|
|
1.59
|
|
1.67
|
|
1.4
Source:Indian Bureau of Mines 
P: Provisional
This information was given by Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Prime Minister's Office
PM participates in “Swachhata Hi Seva”, performs Shramdaan at a school in Delhi
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today participated in the Swachhata Hi Seva movement by performing Shramdaan at a school in Delhi.
Shortly after launching the movement through a video conference interaction with a cross-section of people from 17 locations across the country, the Prime Minister travelled to the Babasaheb Ambedkar Higher Secondary School, at Rani Jhansi Road in central Delhi. He offered floral tributes to a statue of Babasahed Ambedkar, and participated in the cleanliness drive. He also interacted with young students at the school, and exhorted them towards the cause of Swachhata.
The Prime Minister travelled to, and from the school, in normal traffic, and without customary protocol. No special traffic arrangements were made for his visit.
This school campus had been bought by Dr. Ambedkar himself in 1946, with an aim to advance the educational, social and economic well-being of Scheduled Castes.
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs
Online enrolment module for TECHNOGRAHIS launched
e-Newsletter and LHP booklets also launched
TECHNOGRAHIS can visit live laboratories at 6 lhp sites for consultation, experimentation & technical awareness : Durga shanker mishra
An Enrolment Module for TECHNOGRAHIS, has been launched by Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MoHUAvia video conferencing,here today. TECHNOGRAHIS are students from IITs, NITs, engineering, planning and architecture colleges, faculty members, academicians, and stakeholders. Launching the module, Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA said that interested candidates can register themselves to visit these Live Laboratories at six LHP sites for learning, consultation, generation of ideas and solutions, experimentation, innovation, and technical awareness. “This will help them in getting a first-hand account of the technologies being used and in turn, they can adapt and adopt them as per their requirements in the construction sector for a ‘Make in India’ approach”, he added.Till the completion of the LHPs within a period of 12 months, the ‘Technograhis’ will get regular updates from the sites for information dissemination.
Shri Mishra also launched the LHP E-Newsletter which captures the progress of the projects at each location. This will be the first volume of the E-Newsletter. Twelve such E-Newsletters will be released every month to inform the students, faculty, stakeholders and public about the development works through write-ups and photographs. It will also promote a healthy competition among the six states regarding the progress of each state.
The six State-specific LHP booklets are for structured information about each site. They give an idea about the technical specifications, an insight into each technology and other details. These booklets will be one-stop guide for technocrats for information exchange.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs  is promoting six Light House Projects  as Live Laboratories for transfer of technology to the field. The primary goal is to encourage large scale participation of people tocreate technical awareness for on-site learning. The foundation stone of LHPs was laid by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on January 1, 2021, at Indore , Rajkot , Chennai , Ranchi , Agartala  and Lucknow . LHPs are being built as part of the Global Housing Technology Challenge-India  initiative under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban .
The LHPs are model housing projects. About 1,000 houses at each location are being built with allied infrastructure facilities. This technology revolution is cost-effective, environment-friendly, disaster-resilient and promotes speedier construction. The initiative will prove to be a major push towards technical transformation in India.
Ministry of Development of North-East Region
Purvottar Bharat Rally concluded at Umroi Military Station
The rally was flagged off from Kolkata by Army Commander HQ Eastern Command
The rally travelled 9 states in over 20 days covering almost 4000 Kms
Flagging in off the Purvottar Bharat Parikrama, Indian Army’s pan North East Car Rally, was conducted at Umroi Military Station. The Rally has finally reached its destination Umroi Military Station, after travelling across the 9 states over 20 days. The Rally was flagged by Hon’ble Governor of Meghalaya Shri Phagu Chauhan. Sub Maj & Hony Capt Yogendra Singh Yadav, PVC  was also part of the Rally and delivered inspiring talks to the youth pan North East India and motivated them to contribute towards Nation Building.
The car rally was flagged off by Army Commander HQ Eastern Command, Lt Gen RP Kalita, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM on 22nd March to 23rd from Fort Williams, Kolkata. The rally covered approximately 4000 Kms over 22 days and passed through scenic routes & arduous terrain, visited various War memorials, conducted Motivational talks at Schools & Colleges and explored many other historical locations of the North East India. The rally received warm welcome at all the places and was showered with affection throughout its journey by the people. Many civil dignitaries also welcomed, interacted with and appreciated the car rally while travelling through various States.
The flagging in ceremony was attended by Shri Phagu Chauhan, Hon’ble Governor of Meghalaya. The Governor was felicitated by Major General S Murugesan. Hon’ble Governor felicitated the team leader, Brigadier KM Shende, Shaurya Chakra and Subedar Major & Honorary Captain Yogendra Singh Yadav, Param Vir Chakra and lauded the efforts of the Indian Army in the service of the Nation. He also highlighted the superlative coordination between the Army and Civil Administration in Meghalaya and commended the efforts of the Indian Army to assist the Ex-Servicemen and Veterans of the State.
The car rally was aimed to promote national unity, camaraderie and national integration among the people of North East India, bringing together different sections of society and build a “New India” that is stronger and more prosperous. It also focused on enhancing awareness about the Indian Army and the Agniveer program. The event was a great platform to showcase the cultural diversity of North eastern region and encourage tourism.
The event was conducted in collaboration with North Eastern Council under the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region  as part of “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”.
Special Service and Features
Drug smuggling gang busted by Chennai Air Customs. 4 Arrested.
Based on intelligence Chennai Air Customs intercepted a courier parcel suspected to contain narcotics substanceat Air Courier Terminalwhich was destined for Australia
The parcel was declared to contain spices powder etc. On examination, branded masala packets of 50 and 100 gramswere found inside among other grocery items. On closer look some chilipowder & sambhar powder packets were found to be tempered with.On opening the packet,a plastic pouch containing white crystalline powder was found concealed inside. Total 37 plastic pouches were recovered from inside the spice packets. Thepowder tested positive for Pseudoephedrine. Total 3kgs of Pseudoephedrine valued at Rs. 30 lakhs was recovered and seized under NDPS Act, 1985.
The parcel was booked in the name of a Theni  based person anddestined to Auburn,New South Wales, Australia.On searches and investigation it is found that Sathik, 37, resident of Chennai, who is mastermind in this smuggling activity, had got the order of 3 kgs of Pseudoephedrine powder from his buyer in Australia. He purchased the powder from a Bengaluru based person and gave the same to his partner who is based in Thanjavur with instructions to conceal the same in spice powder packets and send to Australian Address given by him. His partnerin turn took help of one Khan, 30, of Chennai for concealing the powder in the spice powder packets. One Antony, 41, of Pudukkottaicame to Chennai took the delivery of parcel from Khan and booked the same to Australia through a Chennai based courier company in the name of his friendSelvam, a resident of Theni  by misusing his Aadhar card. All four who are involved in smuggling activity have been arrested under NDPS Act.
Further investigation is in progress.
This is stated in a press release issued by the Rajan Chaudhary, Commissioner of Customs, Chennai International Airport.
Ministry of Textiles
Cabinet approves incurring expenditure for reimbursing the losses under MSP operations for cotton during the cotton season  2014-15 to 2020-21
Cabinet approves price support of Rs.17,408.85 crore to the Cotton Corporation of India  for the cotton seasons from 2014-15 to 2020-21
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for committed price support of Rs.17,408.85 crore to the Cotton Corporation of India  for the cotton seasons from 2014-15 to 2020-21 .
In order to safeguard the interests of the cotton farmers, it is expedient to conduct price support operations in cotton years 2014-15 to 2020-21 as cotton prices touched the MSP prices. Its implementation enhances the inclusiveness of the cotton farmers in the economic activity of the country. Price support operations help stabilize the cotton prices and alleviate farmer’s distress.
Cotton is one of the most important cash crops and plays a major role in sustaining livelihood of around 58 lakh cotton farmers and 400 to 500 lakh people engaged in related activities such as cotton processing and trade.
During cotton season 202-21, area under cotton cultivation was 133 lakh hectares with estimated production of 360 lakh bales, which account for around 25% of total global cotton production. Government of India based on the recommendations of CACP fixes MSP for seed cotton .
Government of India appoints CCI as Central Nodal agency and CCI is mandated to undertake MSP in cotton by procuring all FAQ grade cotton from farmers without any quantitative celling, as and when cotton prices fall below MSP level. MSP operations protect cotton farmers from distress sale during any adverse price situation.
MSP operations being sovereign function in nature motivates cotton farmers in the country to keep their sustained interest in cotton cultivation so as to make India Atambirbhar for quality cotton which is a raw material for spinning industry. CCI keep its infrastructure ready in all 11 major cotton growing States by opening 474 procurement centres in 143 districts.
During global pandemic in the last two cotton seasons , CCI procured around 1/3rd of the cotton production in the country i.e. about 200 lakh bales and disbursed more than Rs.55,000/- crore directly in the bank accounts of around 40 lakh farmers.
For current cotton season i.e. 2021-022, CCI has already made all adequate arrangements in all 11 major cotton growing states including deployment of man power at more than 450 procurement centres, so as to meet any eventuality of MSP operations.
Department of Space
SCIENCE CITY HOSTS LECTURE ON EXPLORING SPACE AND BEYOND
Kolkata, September 26, 2019
Science City when it hosted a popular lecture for students, in association with American Centre, Kolkata today. The chief speaker was Ms. Ann Devereaux, Spacecraft System Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory  and the Lead Flight System engineer for the Mars 2020 Rover.
At the outset, Shri Subhabrata Chaudhuri, Director, Science City, talked about her early childhood visits to Kennedy Space Centre that inspired her to take up this career. Citing her example, he advised the students to visit Science City more often, as hands-on interaction of exhibits help one understand the core concepts of Science in a lucid manner.
Shri Chaudhuri added that even when all Indians were anxious about the fate of landing of Vikram Rover on Moon, Ann was also waiting with bated breath. After the event, she sent a massage-‘I just wanted to let your team back in India know that myself and lot of my colleagues have been watching the landing coverage of ‘Chandrayaan-2’ with great interest. Though it looks like there might have been problems, there’s of course always hope. And we humans always learn things, even from our failures. I was going to suggest, I would be happy to work in some thoughts on time NASA and JPL have had failures and how we learned from them and ultimately get better-and that we all learn from each other as well.”
During her deliberation, Ms. Devereaux focused on Mars Science, Mars/Moon human exploration, exo-planet explorations, deep Space engineering with a focus on STEM education for school students. She also hoped for future collaboration with Indian Institutions like ISRO.
The programme was also attended by Ms. Monica Shie, Director, US Consulate General, Kolkata.
Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers
Affordable Medical Equipment to Patients
National Health Authority  under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare is mandated with the implementation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan ArogyaYojana . The Scheme provides an annual health cover of Rs. 5 Lakhs per eligible beneficiary family for secondary and tertiary care hospitalizations corresponding to 1,949 treatment procedures across 27 specialties. The treatment packages under Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY cover for the cost of implants to certain procedures.
National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority  under the Department of Pharmaceuticals  had on 13th February 2017 fixed the ceiling price of Bare Metal Stents and Drug Eluting Stents as per provisions of the Drugs  Order, 2013 at ₹7,260 for Bare Metal Stents and ₹29,600 for Drug Eluting Stents . The current ceiling price, based on revision of WPI, for the Coronary Stents with effect from 30th March 2022 is as under:
|
|
Sl. No
|
|
Type
|
|
Ceiling Price
|
|
1
|
|
Bare Metal Stents 
|
|
Rs. 9,373.03/-
|
|
2
|
|
Drug Eluting Stents  including metallic DES And Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold /Biodegradable Stents
|
|
Rs. 34,128.13/-
The hospitals cannot charge the patients more than the ceiling price fixed by NPPA. Further, to facilitate availability and ensure affordability, NPPA has capped the trade margin for medical equipment, viz., Pulse Oximeter, Glucometer, BP Monitor, Nebulizer and Digital Thermometer vide notification dated 13th July, 2021.
As informed by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, as on 21st July 2022, more than 3.63 Crore hospital admissions amounting to over Rs. 42,880 Crores have been authorized under Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY. The authorized hospital admissions for the previous three financial years from FY 2019/20 to FY 2021/22 are as follows:
|
|
Financial Year
|
|
No. of authorized hospital admissions 
|
|
2019-20
|
|
80.33
|
|
2020-21
|
|
80.71
|
|
2021-22|
|
144.88Note: – Hospital admissions data for Rajasthan and Telangana for FY 2021-22 is sourced directly from the respective State Health Agencies.
Further, the authorized hospital admissions for the previous three financial years from FY 2019/20 to FY 2021/22, involving the use of cardiac stents or implants, is as follows:
|
|
Financial Year
|
|
No. of authorized hospital admissions 
|
|
2019-20
|
|
1.28
|
|
2020-21
|
|
1.04
|
|
2021-22
|
|
1.63
As per available records, no such suggestions/ complaints have been received by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers.
This information was given by Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Shri Bhagwanth Khuba in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Mines
Overall Mineral Production Goes Up by 8.8% during January, 2023
Several Important Minerals Indicate Positive Growth
The index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector for the month of January, 2023  at 135.9, is 8.8% higher as compared to the level in the month of January, 2022. As per the provisional figures of Indian Bureau of Mines , the cumulative growth for the period April- January, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year is 5.8 per cent.
Production level of important minerals in January, 2023 were: Coal 903 lakh tonnes, Lignite 40 lakh tonnes, Natural gas  2913 million cu. m., Petroleum  25 lakh tonnes, Bauxite 2190 thousand tonnes, Chromite 388 thousand tonnes, Copper conc. 9 thousand tonnes , Gold 174 kg, Iron ore 241 lakh tonnes, Lead conc.32 thousand tonnes, Manganese ore 282 thousand tonnes, Zinc conc.150 thousand tonnes, Limestone 359 lakh tonnes, Phosphorite 196 thousand tonnes, Magnesite 7 thousand tonnes, and Diamond 4 carat.
Important minerals showing positive growth during January, 2023 over January, 2022 include: Phosphorite , Gold , Coal , Iron Ore
, Lead conc , Natural Gas , Limestone , Manganese Ore , and Bauxite . Other important minerals showing negative growth include: Petroleum , Chromite , Copper conc , Lignite, Magnesite and Zinc conc .
Prime Minister's Office
PM to address ‘Sawasdee PM Modi’ community programme in Bangkok today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address ‘Sawasdee PM Modi’ community programme in Bangkok at 6 PM IST today. Several Members of Indian diaspora in Thailand will participate in the event.
Ministry of Defence
VISIT OF LT GEN CP MOHANTY, VICE CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF TO UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Lt Gen CP Mohanty, Vice Chief of the Army Staff has proceeded on a five day visit to the United States of America. The aim of the visit is to enhance bilateral military cooperation and explore future avenues for military-to-military defense partnership.
The Vice Chief will attend the multilateral Chiefs of Defense Conference, being held in Hawaii, which will be marked by discussions on three important topics: how Covid-19 will change national security forever; role of minilateralism in a free and open Indo-Pacific; and challenges and opportunities of technology enabled threats. In the course of the visit, Lt Gen CP Mohanty will also interact with the senior military leadership of the countries attending the Chiefs of Defense Conference.
Later, the Vice Chief of the Army Staff will travel to Washington DC and interact with senior military leaders and civilian officials of the Department of Defense of the US. He will also visit the Program Executive Office  Soldier and witness innovations in close combat squads, Soldier Survivability, Soldier Lethality, Soldier Manouever and Precision Targeting and Integrated Visual Augmentation System. The meetings are aimed at increasing military to military cooperation between the two countries.
____________________________________________________________
SC,VBY
(Visitor Counter : 982
Ministry of Finance
LIC to acquire controlling stake of IDBI Bank
Cabinet approves dilution of Government shareholding below 50%
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approvedconveying of no objection to reduction in Government of India shareholding in IDBI Bank Limited to below 50% by dilution. It has also approved acquisition of controlling stake by Life Insurance Corporation of India  as promoter in the bank through preferential allotment / open offer of equity, and relinquishment of management control by the Government in the bank.
Impact:
- The acquisition has wide-ranging synergy benefits for customers, LIC and the bank.
- Benefits to the two entities emanate from economies of scale, reduction in the costs of distribution and customer acquisition, greater efficiency and flexibility in operations, and greater opportunity for cross-selling of products and services.
- These would help financially strengthen both LIC and the bank, as well as their subsidiaries which offer financial products such as housing finance and mutual funds.
- Further, the bank would get an opportunity to tap 11 lakh LIC agents for doorstep banking services, positioning it to improve customer services and deepen financial inclusion.
- The bank would also be positioned to benefit in terms of lower cost of funds through acquisition of low-cost deposits, and fee income from payment services.
- LIC would get bancassurance  through the bank's network of 1,916 branches, besides access to bank's cash management services.
- Further, LIC would gain in terms of furthering the realisation of its vision of becoming a financial conglomerate.
- Customers too would benefit through wider offerings of financial services under one roof, and LIC being better positioned to expand life insurance coverage.
Background:
In 2016, the Finance Minister, in his Budget Speech announced that the process of transformation of IDBI Bank has started and that Government will take it forward and also consider the option of reducing its stake below 50%. Taking note of this announcement, with the approval of its Board, LIC sought permission of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India  for acquiring controlling stake in IDBI Bank. After receipt of IRDAI's permission and carrying out diligence, LIC expressed its interest in acquiring 51% controlling stake to IDBI Bank. The bank in turn, after consideration of this offer by its Board, sought Government's decision in the context of Government's stake coming down below 51% as a result of the proposed acquisition.